The anti-money laundering officer should advise the account-opening officer to verify the identity of all the partners as an initial step. This is because opening a bank account for an offshore company with multiple owners from different jurisdictions poses a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Therefore, the bank should apply enhanced due diligence measures to ensure that the offshore company and its owners are legitimate and not involved in any criminal activities. One of the key measures is to verify the identity of all the partners, not just the one who presents the power of attorney. This will help the bank to establish the beneficial ownership and control structure of the offshore company, as well as to detect any possible fraud, forgery, or coercion in the power of attorney document. The bank should also verify the authenticity and validity of the power of attorney, and the scope and purpose of the authority granted to the partner who requests the account opening.
The other options are less important or irrelevant as initial steps. Verifying the source of the deposit is also a part of the enhanced due diligence process, but it should be done after verifying the identity of the partners and the offshore company. Filing a suspicious transaction report with the appropriate Financial Intelligence Unit or the Egmont Group is a possible action that the bank may take if it detects any indicators of money laundering or terrorist financing in the account opening process, but it is not an initial step. The Egmont Group is an international network of Financial Intelligence Units that facilitates information exchange and cooperation, but it is not a reporting authority.
ACAMS Study Guide, Chapter 3: Customer Identification and Verification, 1
ACAMS Study Guide, Chapter 4: Customer Risk Assessment, 2
ACAMS Study Guide, Chapter 5: Ongoing Monitoring, 3
Powers of attorney: opening a bank account, 4
